Trains in flood-hit Thai South likely to be resumed in 10 days

BANGKOK, January 17 (TNA) - The State Railway of Thailand (SRT) says if there is no more rain, train services in the flood-ravaged Thai South should be resumed within 10 days. SRT Governor Wutthichart Kalayanamitr estimated on Monday that flood damages on railways in the Thai South should cost at least 1.3 billion baht, about one billion baht of which should be damages on railways and the remaining 300 million baht should be damages to signaling systems. The governor acknowledged that SRT will seek more budget from the the Transport Ministry for the maintenance and repair of the damaged railways. Meanwhile, southern provinces have accelerated draining out floodwater in preparation for more rainfalls, forecast during January 16-18, although some areas remain under one metre of floodwater. In Phuket Province, the provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office has mobilized vehicles, equipped with large water pumps with pumping capacity of about 50,000 litres per minute, to drain floodwater from Trang’s Wang Wiset and Huai Yod and Muang Districts into the sea. However, floods have receded in many areas and a municipal school has been cleaned up for its reopening on January 17. In Songkhla Province, rainfalls continued on Monday morning, affecting four districts around Songkhla Lake. As the Meteorological Department warned, in the meantime, more downpours during January 16-19, prompting the provincial disaster prevention and mitigation office to issue a warning for a new round of flooding and officials and local residents are on alert to closely monitor the updated situation. In Bangkok, a government spokesman told journalists that Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-ocha thanked the public for their donations for flood victims in the Thai South during an official charity event, held at the Government House on January 15, noting that the money raised at the event amounting to about 329 million baht. As a precaution, Bangkok Governor Police General Aswin Kwanmuang has ordered the construction of a giant tunnel under the Bangsue Canal to be completed by April 2017 as scheduled. Accompanied by officials from the Department of Drainage and Sewerage under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the governor inspected the construction of the giant tunnel at the Junction of Ratchadapisek Road and Lat Phrao Road on Monday and observed flood-prone area on the road. When completed, the 6.4 kilometre tunnel will drain water from the area of about 56 square kilometres of six districts in the capital, including Dusit, Bangsue, Din Daeng, Phayathaim Huay Kwang and Chatuchak, into the Chao Phraya River in Kiakkai. The giant drainage tunnel will help relieve repeated floods on congested roads such as Ratchada, Vibhavadi, Phahonyothin, Sam Saen, Lat Phrao and Khamphaeng Phet. (TNA)